Under new management

Last week's reshuffle saw universities and further education swallowed up by Lord Mandelson's business department, just two years after they were split from schools. Polly Curtis looks at what lies ahead

The university funding system comes under the spotlight when the government embarks on a review of top-up fees at the end of this year. Photograph: Graham Turner

Under new management

Last week's reshuffle saw universities and further education swallowed up by Lord Mandelson's business department, just two years after they were split from schools. Polly Curtis looks at what lies ahead

Monday 8 June 2009 19.01 EDT
First published on Monday 8 June 2009 19.01 EDT

What happens next?

Universities

What's worked so far ...

In the days after Dius was created, John Denham and Gordon Brown announced a major package to expand student funding, making universities more accessible to those who struggle to afford it. Universities celebrated the influence of Lord Drayson, who won extra money and safeguarding for science and engineering research at the budget. Freed from the schools department, everyone in the universities sector - from the Russell group to ministers - found it easier to complain that the major barrier to widening participation is in state schools and not university admissions.

... and what hasn't

The fact that expansion of grants had to be scaled down was deeply embarrassing to a Labour government and, with its decision to cancel funding for second degrees, it looked like the decisions being made in Dius were regressive. The protection of science research funding has made a casualty of some arts and humanities subjects, not least languages. There were some complaints about the loss of the close relationship schools and universities had when they sat in the same government department.

Challenges ahead

Mandelson's new department will have to lead the debate over what to do about HE funding. The government is required to establish a review of the 2006 top-up fee regime within the year, but it won't report until after the election. The key decision facing the secretary of state will be who to appoint to run the review: it is likely to be a loyalist who won't undo Labour's plans if there is a change of government. With universities moved into the department responsible for business, academics fear the focus on education will shift to one on commerce. Mandelson will have to work hard to win round universities.

Skills

What's worked so far ...

Apprenticeships and the work-based Train to Gain programme were hugely championed under John Denham. Radical expansions included the removal of the upper age limit on apprenticeships. Employers have gained the right to become their own exam body under the qualifications and curriculum framework, which led to McDonald's being accredited to award level 4-equivalent qualifications, and the inevitable headlines of "McQualifications".

... and what hasn't

Both key policies - apprenticeships and Train to Gain - have struggled. With apprenticeships, funding shortfalls have restricted older people's access, and now the programme is struggling in the recession. Employers are cutting places or sacking existing apprentices. The construction industry is badly hit, and Denham had to work hard to convince Whitehall and the public sector to take on their fair share. Train to Gain was slow to take off, but is now oversubscribed as employers see it as a cheap way to improve (they are paid for employees' time outside of work as well as the training costs).

Challenges ahead

The new Business, Innovation and Skills department has been asked by the prime minister to boost the government's efforts to retrain people out of the recession. In the beefed-up department it's possible Mandelson could win more funding, but in the tight financial climate it's more likely they are going to have to make major improvements to re-skilling the nation without huge additional expenditure.

14-19

What's worked so far ...

Ed Balls seized the 14-19 agenda by boosting diplomas with the addition of the academic subject lines, which seemed to be a return to Tomlinson's plans and a backtrack on the Blair reforms. There are ambitious plans to extend compulsory education to 18. An unexpected - and welcomed - rise in pupils staying on at sixth forms and colleges post-16 brought a funding shortfall, threatening to exclude some pupils. But after lobbying by headteachers and principals, the Treasury plugged the funding hole.

... and what hasn't

There have been problems with the diplomas, with only 12,000 pupils starting last year instead of the 50,000 ministers had hoped for. The delivery of thousands of students' educational maintenance allowances failed after a new company, Liberata, was contracted to process them. Liberata was sacked. The division of apprenticeships between DCSF, which is responsible for 14- to 19-year-olds and Dius, which was responsible for apprentices over the age of 19, has been confusing but will continue under the new department.

Challenges ahead

Any government will have to work hard to meet the commitment to raise the leaving age to 18, and will need to come up with new qualifications to persuade teenagers to stay on. If not, institutions risk becoming holding houses to keep young people off the jobless figures. The future of diplomas is still in the balance - will the expansion planned for September materialise? Will the grading work properly for the first certificates awarded next year? Will employers and universities be satisfied with the finished product?

Schools

What's worked so far ...

A crackdown on the flaky schools admissions system has led to a fairer code that is less easy to manipulate. Some of the more excessive freedoms of academies, such as handing sponsors control of the curriculum, have been reined in. There has been a shift towards educational sponsors - schools, universities and colleges - instead of monied individuals. One of the most profound changes has been the move towards more collaborative models of leadership, with federations and knowledge-sharing. The decision to remove key stage 3 Sats was a long overdue gift.

... and what hasn't

Sats didn't work last year - the system collapsed, triggering the scrapping of tests for 14-year-olds. Ministers now face a boycott over KS2 tests, and there are signs of problems with the marking as well. Potentially good policies, such as the extra funding and support for schools with lower exam results were damaged by the handling, with many schools scarred by being labelled "failing". Most unpopular has been the rate of policy announcements under Ed Balls: 300 last year.

Challenges ahead

The jury is still out on Balls's decision to create a new exams watchdog, Ofqual, and whether it will be a truly independent governor of standards or simply a PR machine to tackle the annual dumbing-down debate. That will depend on the independence it will be afforded by ministers. The biggest challenge for Balls will be to resist the temptation for an explosion of new policies in a last-ditch attempt to win public support.

Children's services

What's worked so far ...

The creation of the combined department and the children's plan at the end of 2007 signalled a new direction for children's services and education, with the child at its heart. Play strategies, new funding for out-of-school services, and extended services in schools followed. But the child protection responsibilities of the department had not yet established a reputation when it was hit with the controversy surrounding the case of Baby Peter in Haringey and the failure to prevent his death. Balls appeared decisive, and ordered the establishment of children's trusts in every area to bring together all agencies working with children.

... and what hasn't

Balls's reaction - not least the high-profile sacking of Haringey's director of children's services, Sharon Shoesmith (pictured) - had a devastating impact on the social work profession. The standing of social workers has been severely compromised by the case, and recruitment is harder. The ambition of the children's plan has translated into smaller-scale projects - to make teaching an MA-level profession and to improve play facilities - but its effects are not yet as sweeping as the rhetoric it was launched with.

Challenges ahead

The children's services programme is likely to be buoyed by the retention of its chief architect, Ed Balls, as secretary of state. But the jury is very much out on whether the integration of education and children's services will improve children's lives or meet the government's ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to grow up. At the heart of that will be its ability to stop a repeat of the terrible case of Baby Peter in Haringey and to prevent the fallout from that damaging the profession in the longer term.